[PDF to InDesign Converter] PDF2ID v3.5 – Typeface Library Explained

Learn about the Typeface Library in PDF2ID v3.5; the pdf-to-indesign converter. The relationship of the Typeface Library to the Font Substitution panel. This tutorial goes into the details of understanding how the Typeface Library works in PDF2ID.

Today we want to go over the Typeface Library panel available in PDF2ID.

Most of you are well aware of PDF2ID’s amazing capability in converting PDFs and Windows XPS files to well structured and fully editable InDesign files; today with this tutorial we’d like to expose you to some of the more advanced features of PDF2ID; specifically, the Typeface Library and its close integration with the Font Substitution panel.

What we see here on the screen is the Conversion settings view of the PDF2ID – Options window. Let just view the Font Substitution panel to get re-acquainted with it. So here the Font Substitution panel appears and as expected it lists all fonts in the PDF file that couldn’t be matched against what we have in the system. Any font mappings done here are permanently stored in the Typeface Library so that you don’t have to repeat this substitution process again. Its easy to realize, the important role the Font Substitution panel plays in order to achieve the best PDF to InDesign conversion.

What we want to do now is to jump right into the Typeface Library; to do that, we click Typeface Library and reveal the Typeface Library panel. We see the various settings that are available. Lets go over each one of these.

We first have the “Set Typeface Library Button”. This allows you to specify the location where the Typeface Library should be stored. Though this seems like a simple setting, it actually has powerful implications. Lets say there are 5 users using PDF2ID in a small-networked environment. What you can do is specify a common location like in a centralized server, that everyone has access to store the Typeface Library. This allows everyone to share a common Typeface Library, instead of each person having a unique copy.
Next we have the section that lists the font names stored in the Typeface Library and their font mappings. Simply click the name in the “Typeface Library Font” list and its mapping appears in the Fonts list. You can actually change the mappings here by clicking on a different Font and clicking Save Changes. If you don’t want to save the changes; click “Revert Changes” and it restores the Typeface Library mappings.

Then we have a checkbox that says “Add Font Substitutions made into Typeface Library”. This setting controls whether you want the font mappings made in the Font Substitution panel to be recorded into the Typeface Library. You can actually stop recording your mappings by turning this setting off.

After that we have “Activate and Use Typeface Library”. This setting controls whether you want to use the Typeface Library or not. You can actually disable its usage by unchecking this. Its interesting to note that we provided such an option; but we felt that every aspect of the Typeface Library should be under the user’s control.

This is a a really interesting option we added. Lets presume a PDF file you converted contained a font called SKIA; but you don’t have this font. So during the conversion process you mapped the font SKIA to Myriad Pro. A few months have passed and you’re about to convert another PDF file which has the Font Name SKIA again. But now you’ve acquired a font called SKIA Pro in you system, which is similar to SKIA. As the Typeface Library remembers that you’ve set SKIA to map to Myriad Pro, it will map it to Myriad Pro.

However, since you have SKIA Pro you now specify in the Font Substitution panel that SKIA should be mapped to SKIA Pro. That’s okay for this time but how do we permanently replace the mapping in the typeface library? One option is to edit the Typeface Library manually from the list above; which can be cumbersome; but better yet, by setting this option it instructs PDF2ID to permanently replace the mapping of the Typeface Library with the latest substitutions you’ve made in the Font Substitution panel. So there’s no need to manually edit the Typeface Library. That’s kind of cool. Always record and store the latest mappings!

Whatever setting changes you make within this area you need to click Save Settings so that it gets reflected

Well, that’s it with the Typeface Library. We hope we were able to help you understand how configurable the Typeface Library is within PDF2ID. If you have any questions please visit us at www.recosoft.com.